How does legacy sales differ from inbound sales?

We all know the typical salesperson. That salesperson is all about closing the deal and not about caring if the product is the right fit for the customer. Legacy sales belong in the past. The world is changing rapidly, so why should sales be any different? The time of pushiness is over, because customers have the opportunity to choose kindness.

We at Kaksio Labs were truly delighted to have Dan Tyre as our guest in our latest webinar. Kaksio Labs’ webinar series offer expert talks on inbound sales and growth marketing in the time of automating. Dan Tyre is a true HubSpot superstar. Besides being HubSpot's Sales director and part of the original team, he is a mentor, speaker, author and Angel Investor - just to name a few. 

Typical salesperson won’t make it in 2019

During the first 25 years of Tyre’s career, he would consider sales to be at the very center of the universe. He was not wrong to think so, because for a long time, Sales was the key to revenue. Without the Internet, salespeople were the main source of information for customers. Marketing created leads and passed them on to Sales. A typical call would be "Are you going to buy this month?". In 2014 Tyre realized that the pushy mentality had to come to an end. 

Competition is tougher than ever. Tyre tells us that in 2014 an average company had 6 competitors, and in 2019 the number has risen to 44. So how do you differentiate yourself? Tyre's advice is clear straightforward: stop being pushy, be helpful instead. You are forced to adapt new ways of selling and doing business. Tyre says he had to start understanding his customers better in order to help them. When competition is heavier, you have to stand out by offering an extraordinary customer experience. 

Stop being a generalist

During our webinar, we asked the attendees “How familiar are you with inbound sales?”. 80% of the attendees utilize inbound sales, while 20% have heard of it. Globally, 10% of sales teams are practicing Inbound sales processes. According to Tyre, around a million sales positions will disappear in the next two years. Don’t hang on to legacy sales, start exploring what you can achieve with Inbound sales. 

Inbound sales is the new way of gaining trust and raising awareness. We have moved away from the sales funnel to a sales process. Tyre’s first advice is to stop being a generalist. Since competition is tougher, you have to find a niche that fits you. The key is understanding the specifics of your customers' business, in order to help them in the best possible way. Customers want to be understood and expect to receive an intuitive product. The hardest thing for a salesperson is to tell their client that they aren’t ready for the product. “Today we don’t close deals, we start relationships”, Tyre says.

Want to know how Dan Tyre gets customer’s attention when he calls? Check out our webinar from 16:40 onwards.  

Dan Tyre's recommendations for getting started with Inbound Sales: The Ultimate List of Sales Discovery Call Questions, 8 Questions for Finding Business Pain Points, 43 Questions to Create a Sense of Urgency.